The Revelation by Beverly Lewis

The Revelation is the fifth and final book in the Abram's Daughters series by Beverly Lewis.  As it is the fifth, this should not be the book (or review) that you start the series with.  Go back to the beginning, otherwise not much will make sense.  Lewis does a little recapping in her novels, but not near enough to cover the detail of the previous four books.

With the return of Jonas, Leah is beside herself with happiness.  Even though the Bishop puts a strict proving time on Jonas to allow him back in the fold, they are certain they can wait it out and finally be together at least.  The same is not true for poor Lyddie though, her love can never be because of a secret that was kept hidden from the community.  Meanwhile, Hannah struggles with depression and wanting to be a healer, despite her family's thoughts on the matter.  But her sister Mary Ruth is enjoying her time as a new mother and her Mennonite husband.  They all have their different dreams, but some are easier to achieve than others.

Leah is still my favorite character, which is a good thing since she's the main character.  And it was nice to finally see something good happen to her.  It only took four books.  Jonas is just as nice in this book although he's never held my interest the way Leah has.  Hannah, I just wasn't sure what to make of her in this book.  She waffles between feelings so quickly it's like Lewis just decided she needed some strife and then just as quickly decided against it again.  Lyddie I didn't really care for too much in the story.  It's not that she's a bad character, I just didn't get drawn into her storyline as much.  And then there's Peter Mast, the father of Jonas, I can't figure him out or his motives for the life of me and it's never really explained.   So that was just plain odd.

I was very glad to see all the different storylines tied up at the end of this novel.  And it was a very nice ending, although I won't describe it and ruin it for the readers of this review.  Once again though, this book was exceptionally preachy.  It's understandable that there will be Christian elements when you read an Amish fiction book, that's perfectly acceptable.  What's not acceptable is shoving it down the reader's throats, which is what Lewis does in this book.  She's got a pretty big opinion on what equals the proper way of practicing faith, and doesn't hesitate to make that clear.  It just really detracts from the rest of the book.

I'm not going to delve into Lewis' books again anytime soon.  I was entertained by this series, but need to just give it a break for awhile.

The Revelation
Copyright 2005
343 pages